


A New Perspective on Jung's Anima and a Newer Perspective on the Future of Mutant-kind

by Rockinlibrarian



Series: The Loudermilk Chronicles [7]
Category: Legion (TV)
Genre: Backstory, First Meetings, Gen, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 02:56:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20332903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rockinlibrarian/pseuds/Rockinlibrarian
Summary: In which the Loudermilks make some new friends at the university, ones whose plans will change their lives forever. In a good way. Mostly. Look, you know this story HAPPENED, you just didn't know HOW.





	A New Perspective on Jung's Anima and a Newer Perspective on the Future of Mutant-kind

**Author's Note:**

> At first I thought the first part, from Melanie's POV, was its own self-contained little story, and maybe it is, but I couldn't stop, and the story just kept going, although by that point it made more sense from Cary's POV.... So, like, indulge my inability to stop, I guess.

Melanie knew Cary Loudermilk by _sight_ as a quiet young man in the graduate-level psychology-for-non-majors elective she TA’d for, by _reputation_ as a grad-student genius in the physics department who kept to the lab and to himself. Reputation’s testimony got a little ugly and confused at that point, as the nastier side of the rumors claimed he was “keeping” an under-aged girl in his apartment. Fewer but more trustworthy voices insisted the girl was merely his little sister. That there _was_ a girl seemed to be the one agreed-upon point, so Melanie was not completely surprised when, as she met with Cary to discuss his thesis paper for the class, a girl of about twelve plopped into the chair beside him and announced, “Okay, let’s study some brains!”

Not _completely_ surprised. She was a_ little_ taken off-guard because she’d been sure Cary had been _alone_ when she’d met him at the door of the study room. The girl was dark of hair and complexion, while Cary was blond and pale, and they frankly didn’t look related at all, but Cary smiled sheepishly and said, “Uh, Melanie, this is my sister, Kerry.”

He then shot the girl a sideways glare, and the girl breathed, “What?” back at him, and he muttered, “you could have done that before we came in.” 

Melanie didn’t understand the words, but the _nature_ of the interaction was so completely sibling-like that she nixed all the unsavory rumors, smiled, and held her hand out to the girl. “It’s nice to meet you, Ca- you have the same name?” She frowned from one to the other.

“Well we _are_ the same-” the girl began, but her brother quickly interrupted, “We spell it differently. She’s ‘Kerry’ with a ‘K’.” The two exchanged another look Melanie didn’t quite get.

She smiled again. “All right then, Kerry-with-a-K. How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.” Kerry narrowed her eyes at Cary as if daring him to interrupt again. He just sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, but smirked as if he was trying to suppress a laugh.

“Uhhhh-huh. So! You’re interested in studying psychology with your brother?”

“This class was all my idea!” (”But neurons_ are_ interesting,” Cary murmured here, though he couldn’t be heard too clearly under Kerry’s excitement). “Unlike _tinkering_ with _nanorobots_, psychology is tactically important. You have to _know your enemy_.”

“Oh?” Melanie kept glancing at Cary out of the corner of her eye. He was blushing and staring down at the table, but still smiling. She got the feeling he was used to this. “Do you have many enemies?”

“Not in _particular_,” Kerry admitted, “but you never know when you’re going to have to fight someone. I’m always running into people I have to fight. Bullies, bigots, people who have no respect for our family—”

“She- she’s really not a sociopath,” Cary said apologetically.

“Yeah, it’s not like I shake down little kids for their lunch money. I only ever beat up people who have it coming.”

“Right, sh-”

“A lot of people have it coming.”

Cary laughed awkwardly. “I think— I think we’re supposed to be talking about our, our thesis topic.”

“I agree, Kerry,” Melanie said. “A lot of people _do_ have it coming.”

“SEE?” Kerry rounded on her brother. “I like Melanie. Maybe you should date _this_ one.”

At that Cary’s awkward smile turned into an awkward frown. “KERRY! That is… h-HIGHLY inappropriate!”

But Melanie laughed. “It’s all right. But I’m engaged.”

“I have…absolutely no intentions beyond discussing our thesis with you.” Cary looked embarrassed and slightly panicky.

“I believe you, it’s fine!” Melanie reassured him.

“He’s afraid to date _anybody_, because of me.” Kerry rocked back in her chair, rolling her eyes. “Not even gorgeous Jeffrey.” 

“It’s really _you_ who wants to date Jeffrey,” he said through his teeth, “and he’s far too old for you!”

Kerry matched his glare. “HE’S THE SAME AGE AS WE ARE.” 

“You know very well what I mean, and this is NOT a good time….” He eyed Melanie sideways. Melanie glanced tactfully away.

Kerry groaned, leaned toward her brother…and disappeared.

“Fine, pout then,” Cary said to the air in the same tone of voice. “Melanie and I can discuss the paper without you.”

“Where…where did she go?”

Cary gave a slight shrug and said, “She just needs some time to herself. P-puberty, hormones, it causes emotional dysregulation….”

“So she _is_ really just a young teen?” Melanie frowned at the door. She supposed Kerry had slipped through when she wasn’t looking.

“Well, no, she _is_ 24, but her physical body does seem to be ab— never mind.” With a perfectly straight face, despite Melanie laughing again, he opened a binder full of notes and held it across the table. “Our thesis is entitled, ‘A New Perspective on Jung’s Anima.’ According to the textbook, Carl Jung proposed that there’s an unconscious part of each person’s psyche that embodies the traits of the opposite gender. But his descriptions are simplistic and stereotypical. He insists the anima is all about beauty and gentleness, and the animus is a brave fighter. But what if a man is—is not a fighter himself? Should- shouldn’t his opposite, his anima, then embody the fighter instead?”

“But that’s not what Jung meant,” Melanie said. “Yes, it is stereotypical, but that was his point. The anima and animus are archetypes. They’re not meant to describe actual people, just ideas.” She smiled patiently. “Jung was a gentle man, too, you know. Trust me, he was not trying to insult your personal manhood.”

“I didn’t mean—” Cary blushed deeply, and suddenly rolled his eyes heavenward and muttered, “Oh, hush up-NOT YOU!” He looked at Melanie in horror. “That wasn’t directed at- at you!”

His dysfluent stutter seemed to go away when he was on a roll, and come back when he was nervous. Melanie made note of that. Probably shouldn’t interrupt him. “What_ did_ you mean?”

“What if,” he took a deep breath, “what if Jung was on the right track, but these— unconscious psyche pieces _are_ individual? Opposite matching _pairs_ of individuals that add up to one whole?”

Melanie nodded. “So no matter what combination of supposed male or female traits a man has, his anima will always be exactly complementary?”

“Yes! Then the relationship can truly function as a, a psychological balance. So if a man is lacking in, say, courage, she makes up for it with her bravery. If he really ought to assert himself but he doesn’t want to, she’s there to pester him into it, maybe even come up with the words to do it herself. If—”

“Wait. Hold on. You don’t mean _literally_.”

“I don’t mean…what? Wh-what do you mean?”

“The point of Jung’s anima is that she’s an _unconscious_ influence on the personality. Once you have these aspects of a personality start physically arguing with each other, you’re crossing over into multiple personality territory, and we don’t cover abnormal psychology in this class.” 

“Who are you calling abnormal?” Kerry was back in the chair beside her brother, as if she’d never left. No, wait. She’d _slid_ into the chair, from… from the chair her brother was already sitting in.

Without missing a beat, Cary told her, “I should think that’s fairly obvious.” 

Kerry punched him in the arm. “Well, I find your manhood personally insulting.” 

She giggled as he swatted her hand away and said, “Would you get OVER that?!”

And the pieces fell together. Melanie’s jaw dropped. “I understand now.” She gazed between the two of them. “This is _you_ we’re talking about. You’re not siblings, you’re— two parts of one whole!” 

The synchronized smile they exchanged carried with it a sense of relief Melanie could feel physically from the other side of the table. “Well, from— from a practical standpoint we are siblings. We _are_ two individuals, we’re just… conjoined twins, joined at the—” Cary held up his hands as if to fit two theoretical pieces together “—at the…I’m not sure what. Joined at the _being_.”

“I even have my own body!” Kerry said. “I just like to stay inside him most of the time. I don’t have to eat or pee or anything gross like that because he takes care of it for both of us. I don’t even have to wait to _heal_ when I get hurt. Cary does all that, too.”

Cary winced. “Well, yes, but you shouldn’t go out of your _way_ to get hurt, either….”

“See?” Kerry held up her brother’s hand and pointed to a bruise on the side of it. “That’s where I missed the bag and hit a metal beam at the gym yesterday.”

“Careful, it’s still tender!” Cary tugged his hand away and shook it out.

“Incredible.” Melanie felt herself beaming with excitement. “You’re…_special_. There must be no one—or two—else like you on earth!”

Kerry giggled. Cary nodded and shrugged. He said, “You see why it can be…_difficult_ for us to talk about.”

“Oh, I need to introduce you to Oliver.” Melanie wiggled in her chair, barely restraining herself from jumping up to pull them out the door immediately. “My boyfriend— fiance. He’s _special_, too. You won’t find it difficult to be yourselves with him. He’ll _know_ who you are.”

* * *

That evening, in a pub just off campus, Melanie tugged Cary toward a neatly-bearded beatnik holding a martini and nodding to the music at a table in the corner. “Oliver!” she called to him before they were even halfway there. “This is the man I told you about. Cary Loudermilk.”

The beatnik rose and peered at him with interest. “So you’re one of us... super-human monsters, eh?” He spoke with an accent Cary couldn’t quite place. Australian? He moved the martini glass to his left hand to hold out his right. “Oliver Bird. Philosopher, poet, and psychic. What is it _you_ do?”

“A- applied physics.” Cary stumbled into the chair Oliver pointed him into. “Practical applications… of advancements being made at the molecular level—”

“And I beat people up.” Kerry appeared beside him, offering her own hand to Oliver.

“And _she_ studies d-defensive tactics and martial arts,” Cary clarified.

“That means he’s a wuss so I have to fight people for him.” Kerry smirked as she firmly shook Oliver’s hand. “Also I take all his phys-ed credits.”

Oliver smirked back. “Ah. The fighter anima. Curious, indeed.” He snapped the fingers of one hand once, twice, three times, around the back and sides of Kerry, then helped her into the chair beside her brother. “There. Just a little something so the— smaller minds around us can’t see you here and tattle to your mother. We can _now_ discuss your fascinating situation undisturbed. So tell me, little anima, where did you come from?”

“Oh, New Zealand!” Cary realized, then noticing the bewildered looks on Oliver and Melanie, and the incredulous look on Kerry, he said, “I’m s-sorry. That’s where _you’re_ from, is what I meant. Isn’t it? We— we’re from Montana.”

Oliver nodded. “Yes, on all counts. But I _actually_ meant, ‘how is it you came to _be?_’ And it was rhetorical. Just getting the discussion rolling.”

Kerry snorted. “Better question is to ask where _he_ came from, anyway.” She jerked her head toward Cary. “He’s the one who looks nothing like our parents.”

“We’re Lakota Sioux… our, our family is. I- I’m an oddity. Our father assumed I wasn’t his, and left us. But I asked, I asked Mama once who my real dad was, and that’s when she—” he laughed shortly at the memory of the terrible face poor Mama had made at the question “—well, first she made it very clear that _she_ believed in the sanctity of vows and _some_ people ought to have _trusted_ that— but then she taught me about genetics. Recessive genes, she suggested.”

“And mutations,” Kerry interjected. “Like to make you some kind of albino or something.”

“Mutations…” Oliver murmured.

“So Kerry…” Cary’s voice hitched a little more than usual. This part was the ugly truth he could never stop feeling guilty about. “Kerry was the child they were _supposed_ to have. Instead they got _me_…with Kerry on the inside.” _He_ ruined their parents’ marriage. _He_ stole the perfectly normal life Kerry _should_ have had. But Kerry rested her head on his shoulder, which he knew was as far as she could comfort him on the outside. If they hadn’t been talking with others, she would have come in and shouted “YOU _ARE_ WORTHY, STUPID!” into every corner of his brain. He gave half a grin. “Nobody knew she was there, at first. I, well, I’d heard people say that they talked to themselves, and I’d just assumed they _all_ had a real voice, inside their head, to talk to, like I did. Then one night I woke up and she was _outside_ my head, playing with my toys.”

“Because you were asleep and it was _boring_.” Kerry rolled her eyes, but kept her head on his shoulder.

“She’s spent more time out since then, mostly when— when I’m being _boring_, she says—”

“Well it’s true.”

“We, we did an experiment once, as teenagers, because I seemed to be growing so much faster than she was, which didn’t make sense. I was on the verge of a major growth spurt, so I thought—much to Kerry’s annoyance—”

“Much to _everyone’s_ annoyance—” Kerry broke in.

“Y-you made SURE it was to everyone’s annoyance, yes, but you _did_ agree to it—we decided that she should stay inside, 24/7, for the next three months, and we’d compare our growth rates at the end of it. I grew four inches. She stayed exactly the same.”

“But admit it, that was the buffest you’ve ever been!” Kerry poked him in the arm.

“She insisted we go… _jogging_ a lot those months.” He laughed slightly. “But for a few weeks afterward, she only came back at mealtime. She even tried sleeping by herself some nights.”

Kerry shuddered. “THAT was a horrible experience.”

“But you _grew_ then. More at once than you ever had before, or since. So,” he took a deep breath, “my theory is that, she started out as part of me. But now, she grows separately, because, because she’s growing into _herself_ now. A-_away_ from me.”

“Don’t say it like that!” Kerry snapped. “You make it sound like I’m going to_ leave_ you!”

Cary smiled sadly. “Who knows what might happen.”

“NOT. THAT.” Kerry held his gaze so fiercely he had to look away.

Out of the corner of his eye, Cary saw Melanie and Oliver talking to each other with their eyes. It looked like an unusually complex conversation for only eyes. Cary was impressed. Even he and Kerry had to use actual _words_ to speak to each other.

Oliver nodded and cleared his throat. “I am very pleased to report, that I have a plan which will allow _both_ of you to be true pinnacles of your_ individual_ selves, while remaining together, if you so desire, to your hearts’ content…s.”

Cary raised an eyebrow at Kerry, who responded with an intrigued nod.

“I call it ‘Summerland’,” Oliver continued. “A whole new plane of existence, where humanity waits to be reborn.” He paused, as if waiting for a reaction. Eventually his girlfriend coughed meaningfully.

“It’s a commune,” Melanie put in, “for people with special abilities.”

“More than a commune, it’s a haven! A place for evolution’s apparent oddities to openly be themselves, to learn to develop their special gifts to their full potentials, free from persecution!”

“So, like, a girl could join the high school wrestling team, even though she only looks like a ten-year-old?” Kerry asked.

Cary suppressed a laugh and added, “for a completely random example.”

“Think bigger, my dear.” Oliver leaned toward Kerry and gave her a conspiratorial smile. “In Summerland, a girl could become a genuine, unstoppable _warrior_, even though she only looks like a twelve-year-old.”

Kerry grinned. “I wanna go there.”

“Ah, here’s the sticky bit,” Oliver said. “We have no ‘there,’ yet. For the moment this is all just theoretical. I’m a visionary, but I need help to bring my visions to fruition. Melanie is my people-person: psychology, public relations, and the like. But we could also really use a— brilliant scientific mind to take charge of Research and Development.”

He turned his shrewd stare toward Cary, and the implications weren’t lost on him. Cary leaned in, too. “What kind of research? Development of what?”

“The possibilities are innumerable. We have no idea of the potential capabilities of…_evolved_ humans. Studies of this nature have never been undertaken, certainly not on the level we’re talking about. Now, you’re a physicist, but how have you kept up with the other sciences? Have you studied any more genetics since your mother’s childhood lessons?”

“That’s—that’s always been a particular hobby of mine, actually,” Cary warmed a bit, “considering…everything.”

“Chemistry? Biology?”

“Pretty good.”

“Earth sciences?”

“Fair enough.”

“If there’s anything Cary doesn’t know, he can learn it,” Kerry put in loyally.

“Good, because_ I_ don’t even know what he’ll have to know!” Oliver seemed delighted by this. “Maybe a person’s mutations are mental, like mine. Maybe they’re something more physical, like yours. Maybe they’re something we cannot even comprehend with our current understanding of the universe! But in Summerland, we will find the answers, and help all evolved humans reach their full potential!”

“When you say ‘evolved humans’,” Cary said slowly, “Is that— is that some kind of euphemism for mutant? Not all mutations are beneficial….”

“That’s where _perspective_ comes in! And the ‘Development’ end of your department. How can we _make_ them beneficial? I want to reframe what it means to be mutant. Really,” he dropped his grandiose air for a moment, “I want to create a place where we all can _belong_.”

“Well,” Cary smiled, “That’s a noble cause, and I think—I’m pretty sure I can help. We’ll need to establish a baseline of what we’re looking for, then calculate the— could I… would you be willing, for me to run some tests on what, physically, happens when you use this mind power of yours…?”

“Oh, you’ve got him started, now,” Kerry said. “You’ll have a full-blown Mutant Locator ready to run by morning.”

Oliver turned to her, shaking a finger. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, either, my young warrior! Sadly, as I assume you have already discovered, there are many who harbor hostile intentions toward those who are different from themselves. Some will not take kindly to a community of superhumans in their midst. So we will also need an expert in security and defense to protect Summerland, to take charge of any defensive training she may find necessary.”

Kerry’s jaw dropped. “Take…_charge?_”

“With some adult guidance, naturally.”

“I’m twenty-four.”

“And perilously uninhibited,” Cary pointed out. Then to Oliver and Melanie, “Not to say she won’t be excellent at it. With- with guidance.”

“She’ll have that,” said Melanie. “That’s part of the plan. It’s an opportunity for people who thought they were all alone in the world to find mentors who understand what they’ve gone through. _You’ll_ help others to reach their potential _physically_, Cary, through science, while _I’ll_ help them reach it emotionally and ethically. You’ll give them the how, I’ll give them the why.”

“What_ is_ the why?”

“To change the world for the better, of course!” said Oliver.

“I’m in,” said Kerry. Her eyes twinkled at Cary, then she stretched her right hand over the center of the table.

Cary placed his hand over hers and said, “Me, too.” 

Oliver and Melanie, once they remembered that this was how a group of twelve-year-olds shook on something, joined their hands to the pile. “To Summerland!” Oliver toasted.

“To Summerland!” the others repeated.

“Of course this can’t really take off until we’ve finished school,” Melanie said, “but Oliver’s already found us a lovely wooded property by a lake—”

“And a few more first recruits, beyond the two of you—do you go by ‘two’ or ‘one,’ anyhow?”

“Either/or,” Cary said just as Kerry shrugged and said, “Whatever.”

“Well, I was just speaking to a man the other day with a really amazing—speak of the devil, there he is. WALTER!” Oliver called across the room. He waved over a large man with curly hair. “Allow me to introduce the _uncanny_ Carries Loudermilk. A _super_genius and a _super_warrior who sometimes share a body. Now, go on, then.” He tugged the man closer to the table. “Show them what _you_ do. I’ve expanded the visual disruption screen from around Kerry-the-Younger so you can see _her,_ and we can _all_ watch you do your magic undisturbed.”

“GIRL-Kerry, you can say,” Kerry piped up. “I’m not really younger.”

The big man glowered suspiciously at them. “You want me to put on a show?”

“A demonstration,” Oliver corrected, “so our new friends get a broader idea of just the kinds of talent we hope to attract to Summerland.”

Walter huffed and rolled his eyes, but then suddenly, in his place, there sat a second Oliver. Kerry laughed and clapped her hands. Then suddenly the original Oliver found himself flanked by two Melanies. The second Melanie flashed a wicked smile at Kerry, and turned into Cary.

Kerry gasped, gripped her real brother’s arm for a split second, then pulled herself deep inside him.

Cary frowned. It was much easier to speak out loud, but he didn’t want to call attention to her. _Are you all right?_ he thought as hard as he could.

_His eyes are wrong. He’s…he’s wrong._

Melanie looked around, concerned. “Did we lose Kerry again?”

“She— that last clever trick was a little disconcerting for her.” Cary shrugged. “No one needs _two_ awful big brothers.”

_That isn’t it at all!_ Kerry snapped. 

“Oh, I can sympathize,” Melanie said, and Oliver nodded and murmured, “Poor chickie.”

Walter turned back into himself and said gruffly, “Sorry.”

_He’s not sorry._

“Are you going to come out and join us again?” Cary said pointedly.

_No._

“Not yet,” he relayed to the others.

Walter chuckled. “Now _that’s_ a clever trick.”

“_Voila_,” Oliver said. “You see how clever we all are? ‘Freaks,’ they call us, but I say, ‘Nay, GIFTED.’ And working together, we will finally achieve what has escaped us alone.”

“Revenge,” Walter said.

“Vindication,” Oliver corrected.

“Close enough.” Walter shrugged.

The new compatriots stayed at that table in the corner for hours, discussing their pasts and futures. Eventually, Kerry came back out to add her thoughts. Cary still wouldn’t let her buy a beer.

Cary and Kerry walked home separately but together. “Can you even imagine a place where we’ll never have to hide who we are?” Cary asked.

“Like home, once Mama started believing I was real. Except, bigger. More people.” She shook her head in wonder. “But weird mutant people like us.”

“I wonder how many there are out there, and if we’ll be able to find them. And if we _can_ make it some…mutant utopia like Oliver says. All of us…oddballs accepting and encouraging each other. It’s inspiring. So…_positive_.”

“I don’t like that Walter, though.”

“No?” Cary smirked at her. “I’d have thought you’d feel right at home with his thirst for vengeance.” His smile faded when he saw how fiercely she frowned. “…I guess not.”

“You know how you told Melanie I’m not a sociopath?”

“Well you _aren’t,_ what else—”

“I just don’t think you can say the same about him, is all.” 

“Well. A bit harsh of a word for someone we only just met.”

“It fits.”

Cary shrugged and nodded. “If Oliver is as psychic as he says he is, I’m sure he’ll know if Walter— or anyone— is really _dangerous_. For now, we can give him the benefit of the doubt.”

Kerry snorted at him. “This is why _I_ am the security and defense expert and you just play with your robots, nerd boy.”

“It’s not _playing_,” Cary protested, but Kerry giggled and shoved him in the side. He stumbled, and when he bounced back upright she was already there, and then they were walking _together_ together, and all was right in their own small world. And for once, the larger world looked just the slightest bit brighter, too. 


End file.
